Causal queries about singular cases, which inquire whether specific events were causally connected, are prevalent in daily life and important in professional disciplines such as the law, medicine, or engineering. Because causal links cannot be directly observed, singular causation judgments require an assessment of whether a co-occurrence of two events c and e was causal or simply coincidental. How can this decision be made? Building on previous work by Cheng and Novick (2005) and Stephan and Waldmann (2018), we propose a computational model that combines information about the causal strengths of the potential causes with information about their temporal relations to derive answers to singular causation queries. The relative causal strengths of the potential cause factors are relevant because weak causes are more likely to fail to generate effects than strong causes. But even a strong cause factor does not necessarily need to be causal in a singular case because it could have been preempted by an alternative cause. We here show how information about causal strength and about two different temporal parameters, the potential causes' onset times and their causal latencies, can be formalized and integrated into a computational account of singular causation. Four experiments are presented in which we tested the validity of the model. The results showed that people integrate the different types of information as predicted by the new model. 相似文献
We examined the psychometric properties of the Self-Regulation Scale (SRS; Schwarzer, Diehl, & Schmitz, 1999), a measure of attention control in goal pursuit, in 2 independent studies. Study 1 included young adults (N = 443), whereas Study 2 included young, middle-aged, and older adults (N = 330). In both studies, the SRS showed good internal consistency. In Study 1, the SRS also showed satisfactory test-retest reliability over a 6-week period. We found support for the criterion validity of the SRS in terms of positive correlations with measures of general and domain-specific self-efficacy, proactive coping, and positive affect and in terms of negative correlations with depressive symptoms and negative affect. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that attention control accounted for unique portions of variance in relevant outcome variables above and beyond measures of self-efficacy and proactive coping. 相似文献
20 patients with somatoform disorders as defined by DSM-IV and 20 healthy controls were examined for their proprioception. Several psychophysiological theories of somatoform disorders suggest biased proprioceptive abilities. The primary question is, whether we may find an inaccurate myogen perception in somatization as suggested by the approach of Bischoff [Wahrnehmung der Muskelspannung (Perception of muscle tension) Gottingen: Hogrefe (1989)] or a more precise proprioception as may be derived from concepts of a higher awareness of body reactions [e.g. Barksky, A. J. (1992) Amplification, somatization, and the somatoform disorders. Psychosomatics, 39, 28–34; Salkovskis, P. M., & Clark, D. M. (1993) Panic disorder and hypochondiasis. Adv. Res. Ther. 15, 23–48]. Furthermore it is expected, that somatoform patients perceive their muscle tension more intensely than do healthy subjects. Proprioceptive abilities were tested using a visual EMG biofeedback task. Resulting objective data and subjective ratings were analyzed within a psychophysiological regression approach which allows one to estimate the reliability, precision and intensity of proprioception. Results revealed that somatoform subjects demonstrated a more precise but not a more intense perception of muscle tension than did healthy controls. 相似文献
The present paper deals with the derivation of the fate concept and its application in psychotherapeutic theory and practice. Conclusions for an extension of the practical therapeutic view on existential themes, such as meaning, freedom, loneliness and death are drawn and effects on the therapeutic relationship are presented. 相似文献
Objectives. To examine motivational and volitional factors for hand washing in young adults, using the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) as a theoretical framework.
Design. In a longitudinal design with two measurement points, six weeks apart, university students (N = 440) completed paper-based questionnaires.
Main outcome measures. Prior hand washing frequency, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, intention and action planning were measured at baseline, and coping planning, action control and hand washing frequency were measured at follow-up.
Results. A theory-based structural equation model was specified. In line with the HAPA, the motivational factors of self-efficacy and outcome expectancies predicted intention, whereas the volitional factors of planning and action control mediated between intention and changes in hand washing frequency. Action control was confirmed as the most proximal factor on hand washing behaviour, thus representing a bridge of the planning–behaviour gap.
Conclusions. Both motivational and volitional processes are important to consider in the improvement of hand hygiene practices. Moreover, the statistically significant effects for planning and action control illustrate the importance of these key self-regulatory factors in the prediction of hand hygiene. The current study highlights the importance of adopting models that account for motivational and volitional factors to better understand hand washing behaviour. 相似文献
Gestures and speech are clearly synchronized in many ways. However, previous studies have shown that the semantic similarity between gestures and speech breaks down as people approach transitions in understanding. Explanations for these gesture–speech mismatches, which focus on gestures and speech expressing different cognitive strategies, have been criticized for disregarding gestures’ and speech's integration and synchronization. In the current study, we applied three different perspectives to investigate gesture–speech synchronization in an easy and a difficult task: temporal alignment, semantic similarity, and complexity matching. Participants engaged in a simple cognitive task and were assigned to either an easy or a difficult condition. We automatically measured pointing gestures, and we coded participant's speech, to determine the temporal alignment and semantic similarity between gestures and speech. Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis was used to determine the extent of complexity matching between gestures and speech. We found that task difficulty indeed influenced gesture–speech synchronization in all three domains. We thereby extended the phenomenon of gesture–speech mismatches to difficult tasks in general. Furthermore, we investigated how temporal alignment, semantic similarity, and complexity matching were related in each condition, and how they predicted participants’ task performance. Our study illustrates how combining multiple perspectives, originating from different research areas (i.e., coordination dynamics, complexity science, cognitive psychology), provides novel understanding about cognitive concepts in general and about gesture–speech synchronization and task difficulty in particular. 相似文献